Utilization of SSR markers for seed purity testing in popular maize hybrids

Microsatellite markers can be used for fingerprinting of hybrids, assessing variation within parental lines and testing the genetic purity of hybrid seed lot. In this study 75 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers well distributed on all the 10 chromosomes were employed for fingerprinting of six popular maize hybrids and their parental lines. Seven SSR markers were found to be polymorphic and produced unique fingerprints for the different hybrids. These markers can be used as referral markers for unambiguous identification and protection of the hybrids.